Remember ZIN Choreo, and Make it Your Own!

This post is by Dana, a guest blogger on The Z Beat!
I just got home from the Zumba Convention in Orlando. It was my first convention and it was such an amazing experience! With it being my first rodeo, I really didn’t have any expectations. I was just hoping that I would enjoy the sessions that I picked, learn a ton of new things and keep up with the non-stop dancing and socializing!

What I didn’t realize as I flew down to Orlando was that for the first time EVER I was going to be joined by six thousand other passionate, die-hard Zumba lovers who felt exactly the same way about Zumba as I did! For the entire week, I wouldn’t have to filter my chatter about Zumba, stifle my excitement about my new choreography, or beg the dog to listen to my new favorite song {again} because every single person in Orlando wanted to talk about Zumba, dance anywhere and everywhere and compare notes on the new Zumba wear!! I learned SO much, met so many amazing people, and want to share a key take-away about choreography that has already helped me!

I signed up for a class called Customized Choreo; Zin Volumes and You. I didn’t know what this class entailed but I breathed a sigh of relief when I walked in and there were only about 25 people standing there (as opposed to the 6,000 ZINs I experienced the kick-off session with). ZIN Volume 57 was playing in the background, and we watched a few of the choreographies that were provided to us as part of our ZIN membership. I have to admit month after month I listen to ALL of the CDs the Home Office sends to us but I have only opened a handful of DVDs over the years. Personally, I didn’t really feel like I could watch DVDs, memorize someone else’s choreography. However, in this session I learned how to make the choreography work for me and reflect my individual style.

Each ZIN DVD has two separate choreographies for each song. There is a 1 on 1 version and a Live class version, and they are different!! You can take advantage of both sets of choreography as you begin to think about how you want to represent the song.

Here’s how to make the choreography your own!

1. Listen to the song of your choice and become familiar with the flow, sequencing and style.
2. Watch the ZIN 1-1 version of the choreography.
3. Watch the ZIN Live version of the choreography.
4. Listen to the song again and break the song down into sections.
5. Give each section a title {Usually Intro, A, B, C, D} and jot them down.
6. Write out the choreography steps for each section that you want to use.
7. To make it your own, come up with 1-2 variations for each section that either builds on the ZIN choreography OR come up with something that is completely different.
8. Listen to the song again and read through your list of steps while visualizing the moves in your head.
9. Write down your final list of sections and moves.
10. Listen to the song and read your list of steps until you memorize it while listening to the music, and then get up and DANCE {and repeat}.

I left that session feeling great about choreographing routines! I learned about the options to either use the exact choreography from the ZIN DVDs, or modify and add my own flavor! Don’t miss out on using your ZIN DVDs! They are monthly GEMS that can be a helpful tool to build your choreography repertoire….#Howdoyouchoreo?